Heat exchangers are, of course, widely used in a variety of different applications. Radiators are, for example, used to discharge heat from a coolant fluid to environmental air, where the fluid is circulated between a heat generating device and the heat discharging radiator. An automobile radiator is a well known example, in which coolant flows through the automobile engine to pick up heat generated by operation of the engine, with the heated coolant then flowing through the radiator (where it is cooled by exchanging heat with [i.e., discharging heat to] environmental air passing over the outer surfaces of the radiator) and then back to the engine (where the cooled coolant again picks up heat from the engine).
In many such applications, including automotive applications, fluid used as a coolant may be subject not only to hot temperatures, but also to extreme cold temperatures. Thus, for example, coolant used in an automobile engine compartment will not only be subjected to the heat generated by the component which it cools but may also be subjected to the cold temperatures of winter weather. Since freezing of the coolant fluid in such conditions could have catastrophic effects, including particularly the possibility of damage to components due to expansion of the frozen fluid in a restricted space (like a soda bottle left in a freezer), coolant fluids are often used which are specially formulated so as to not freeze in the range of environmental temperatures expected to be encountered.
Of course, such specially formulated coolant fluids can be costly. Moreover, fluids formulated to not freeze at certain temperatures may also have other corrosive and other characteristics which may make them unsuitable for certain applications. For example, in some fuel cells, such as proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cells, deionized (DI) water is preferably used for cooling. However, such water in many environments is likely to encounter temperatures which would cause the water to freeze.
The present invention is directed toward overcoming one or more of the problems set forth above.